What makes Shopify So Good
Shopify is a well-known eCommerce platform that allows you to create your own online store without any technical knowledge. Shopify is used by over 800,000 businesses and was named the "Best Ecommerce Platform for Larger Businesses" in our analysis, beating the bulk of its competitors. It is not, however, suitable for everyone. That's why our evaluation looks at Shopify's sales capabilities, simplicity of use, pricing, design, marketing tools, and more to see if it's the best fit for you.
Shopify is a great option for both people who currently have an eCommerce business and those who want to start one. Despite the fact that Shopify is a fantastic choice, you should weigh its advantages and disadvantages to determine whether it is the best platform for your online store.
This evaluation will offer you information about Shopify's major benefits and drawbacks from a variety of viewpoints. But firstly let’s know more about Shopify!
What is Shopify?
Shopify is an eCommerce website builder that allows users to create their own online store. It's truly that simple — you don't need any special technical abilities, a limitless budget, or to pay someone to make your dream a reality. As a result, Shopify is a simple and cost-effective method to set up your online business.
Anyone can use Shopify, whether they're a first-time vendor or a multimillion-dollar corporation like Harry's Razors (yes, Harry's Razors is one of Shopify's happy clients). All you'll need is a concept, something to sell, and access to the internet, and you'll be able to open an online store in no time.
Read more about how to increase your eCommerce sales in this article.
Shopify is a strong platform to pick since it has over 1,200 applications, specific features like inventory monitoring and shipping tools, and a variety of price options. It is very scalable and can be utilized by any size store. When testing out a builder, the first thing you should look for is how simple it is to use, especially if you're creating an online store. Shopify has excelled in this key area, combining power with ease of use, which is something that many eCommerce builders struggle with. Even for complete newbies, Shopify's clean, clear, and straightforward UI makes setting up your business a snap.
Shopify offers a 30-day free trial, so you can evaluate if it's the perfect builder for you. As our customer testimonials demonstrate, the only way to know if you'll find Shopify wonderful or annoying is to give it a try - see for yourself if you'll be a fan.
Let’s go back and talk about Shopify’s main advantages and disadvantages:
1. Usage simplicity
Pros:
A business owner's major objective is to boost sales without being slowed down by technology or other time-consuming administrative duties. There are several advantages. Other eCommerce systems lack features like aid with managing the store's technological demands, a simple interface, and access to numerous valuable ones, which Shopify does. Shopify is a powerfully hosted platform that will handle your transaction processing time as well.
Cons:
Shopify is a great platform for those who aren't as tech-savvy. If you need additional features for your store, explore Shopify's competitors, such as Magento or WordPress, which are self-hosted systems that are more difficult to operate with but also more versatile with theme modification and managing larger businesses.
2. Themes variety
Shopify offers 10 free themes and 64 premium themes that cost between $140 and $180 apiece. All of the themes are mobile responsive, which means they'll adjust to fit mobile and tablet devices automatically. This feature is critical since people are 62% less likely to buy from you again if they have a terrible mobile experience with your site. These are fantastic characteristics that are essential for building a successful shop that delights your consumers.
Pros:
Beautiful storefront themes are one of Shopify's biggest selling points. They make a website seem attractive and professional, which aids in client retention. Shopify gives retailers a variety of themes to choose from for their business. Art & Photography, Jewelry & Accessories, Food & Beverage, Furniture, and many more are among the industry-specific themes. You may filter them based on whether they're mobile-only or responsive, as well as whether they're using free or premium themes.
The themes on Shopify are well-designed, with a clean, elegant, and attractive appearance. Each one is also available in a number of designs and color schemes, ensuring that you can always find the appropriate tone for your business.
From art and photography to electronics, furniture, and beyond, you may browse topics by industry. You may also sort by popularity, price, or collection, with terms like "minimalist," "fun and vibrant," and "ideal for small inventory" available.
Although Shopify's templates are beautiful, you'll want to customize yours completely. You'll need to personalize your theme by adding your own goods, changing text, altering pictures, and establishing new pages in order to accomplish this.
Cons:
Only 10 free theme templates are available. You'll have to pay a one-time charge to utilize any of the other themes if you don't have any of the free templates. If you want a lot of customization, you'll need to learn Shopify's Liquid code or pay someone who does.
3. Shopify app store
Pros:
One of Shopify's strongest features is its plugins. Shopify has over 1,200 applications that may help you automate activities so you can focus on more essential things like marketing and growing your business. Accounting, customer support, inventory, reporting, shipping, and other tasks may all be handled with the help of applications. These tools will make your life easier by allowing you to expand your business using technology.
Let's take a look at what Shopify has to offer in terms of applications. Shopify applications will streamline your accounting process, which is a necessary yet time-consuming element of running a growing business. You'll have to extract your sales figures and transaction data and manually load them into your accounting software or provide it all to your accountant if you don't have an accounting plugin linked to your website.
Shopify invites third-party tool providers, such as accounting software companies, to connect their products with Shopify. All sales and data will be transmitted immediately to the accounting software, saving you money that would have been spent on an accountant. Shopify also creates applications for eCommerce businesses that have unique requirements based on the regions in which they operate. The Cash on Delivery app is an excellent example, and it was created particularly for Indian retailers.
Cons:
These applications come with fees that you must pay in order to use them. You will have to manually enter your data into your own program if you don't have these apps, which will take time. You have the option of hiring someone, which will cost between $50 and $300 per month or paying a monthly app subscription.
4. Customer support
Pros:
Shopify has a fantastic customer service team. They may be reached by live chat and email. You may also reach them by dialing one of four other phone numbers. The Shopify Help Center is a lot of knowledge, and if you need more specific solutions to difficulties, you may contact Shopify directly.
The Shopify Plus package includes advanced professional assistance as well as your own personal support agent. You don't have to spend a lot of money to get quality assistance; even the smallest pricing plan includes 24/7 support. This is something that not many eCommerce platforms can boast of. In fact, Shopify is one of the few builders that provides assistance 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, when many others simply operate during standard business hours.
It provides help via various channels, so you can choose whichever works best for you:
24/7 phone support
Social media support
24/7 live chat support
Community forum
Email support
Help center
Video tutorials
Advanced specialist support
Cons:
If you are experiencing technical difficulties, you may not always be able to get immediate assistance from general support. Instead, you might need to ask your topic on a forum and wait for a developer to respond. Only the United States, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Australia have phone numbers for customer support.
5. Marketing
Pros:
Shopify offers marketing tools to help you improve your SEO rankings, share your content on social media, and automate some of your other chores.
You can do the following with Shopify:
Make a discount code generator.
Know how to enable your customers to combine/stack discounts in this article.
On Shopify, Pinterest, and other social media platforms, you may sell your products.
Add relevant keywords to website pages and product descriptions to improve SEO.
Read more about how to increase your store traffic in this article.
Make a blog. Blogging is a built-in element that has an impact on your SEO rankings.
Use Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) to improve the speed with which your content is delivered to mobile shoppers, increasing their purchasing experience and ensuring that your site is prioritized in Google's search results.
Get a sitemap that is generated automatically.
Cons:
You can only use the AMP function if you have a paid app in your store. Other advanced SEO tools, such as adding customer reviews and ratings, are typically available only if you pay for the extra plugins. Also, it's not easy to export blog posts.
Customers cannot combine discounts; by default, only one discount per order is provided. Multiple discounts feature can be used with some extensions, such as Script Editor, but only with a Shopify Plus account.
6. Pricing
Shopify offers a variety of plans from which to pick, depending on your demands and budget. For starters, Shopify offers a 14-day free trial in which you don't have to submit any payment information, so there's no risk and no obligation to sign up. You'll only need an email address to sign up for a free two-week trial of Shopify.
Summary of Shopify's Pricing:
Shopify Lite: $9 per month, which allows you to add eCommerce to a Facebook page or an existing website. Unless you utilize Shopify Payments, there is a 2% transaction fee.
Basic Shopify: $29 per month — the most affordable option for starting your own online store; includes everything you need to get started. Unless you utilize Shopify Payments, there is a 2% transaction fee.
Shopify: $79 per month — for growing enterprises; enables gift card generation among other things. Unless you utilize Shopify Payments, there is a 1% transaction fee.
Advanced Shopify: $299 per month — for large businesses looking to expand; includes advanced reports and third-party shipping prices established by third parties. Unless you utilize Shopify Payments, there is a 0.5 percent transaction fee.
Shopify Plus: for big-scale, enterprise-level enterprises with large budgets. There are no defined prices; instead, you must request a personalized quote.
Basic Shopify, Shopify, and Advanced Shopify are the three major Shopify plans. These are at the heart of what Shopify has to offer, allowing you to create unlimited goods, discount codes, and more. In addition to these, there are two more plans: Shopify Lite and Shopify Plus. Rather than forcing you to establish a store from the bottom up, Shopify Lite allows you to sell through an existing website by purchasing 'Buy' buttons. Shopify Plus, on the other hand, provides a tailored package for firms that make a lot of money and want the greatest degree of professional support.
We recommend Shopify for:
Users with a huge inventory or who want to expand their business
Vendors seeking an all-in-one eCommerce solution with sales functionality to accommodate a variety of selling scenarios
Users who don't mind relying on apps or paying extra to improve their store's functioning
In the end, Shopify has proven to be the greatest all-around eCommerce website builder available. But there's only one way to find out if it's the best option for you: test it out for yourself. Take advantage of Shopify's 14-day free trial to see if you agree with our assessment. Your aspirations of selling on the internet are within your grasp, so get started... then report back and tell us how it went.
Aside from the advantages and disadvantages we've already discussed, Shopify's flexibility to grow with your business is one of the most appealing features. Because it provides merchants with all of the tools they need to create beautiful eCommerce websites, Shopify is often regarded as the most user-friendly platform for both small and large eCommerce enterprises.
